Gov. Ned Lamont is asking President Joe Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a federal emergency declaration for Fairfield County, New Haven County, and Litchfield County after historic rainfall.
This is the first step to seek federal assistance, according to the governor’s office.
The request comes after Lamont declared a civil preparedness emergency in response to the flooding on Monday.
Lamont is seeking federal assistance to supplement the state and municipalities as well as help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide support for repairing dozens of bridges, dams, and other infrastructure.
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He is also asking for the Environmental Protection Agency to provide support because oil tanks, propane cylinders, vehicles, vessels and drums are floating in multiple waterways.
And he is asking for help from the Federal Highway Administration for several destroyed and compromised state roads.
As work continues to assess, clean and repair washouts on state roads, the state Department of Transportation has also begun the process of developing plans to repairing Route 34, which was badly damaged, and other structures that need to be replaced.
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“This was an extreme amount of rainfall in an incredibly short period of time that resulted in historic levels of flooding in western Connecticut,” Lamont said in a statement.
“Our state experienced two fatalities in which people were swept away from flood waters, and first responders bravely rescued and evacuated hundreds of people during and after the storm. Scores of state and local roads are washed away or compromised, dams and bridges have been affected, and oil tanks, vehicles, and other hazardous items were flooded into waterways. I appreciate President Biden and FEMA for considering this request to assist our state and municipalities with the immediate effort to protect public safety in the aftermath of this devastation,” Lamont said.
The governor’s office said it is also working with towns on accounting for all the damage and the cost associated, which is necessary for a FEMA major disaster declaration, which is different and could provide federal funding to support homeowners, businesses and local and state governments with financial help for repairing and rebuilding infrastructure damaged in the storm.
Any homeowners and business owners who suffered storm damage are urged to contact their town’s local emergency management office as soon as possible so that their damages can be documented as part of this effort.
